Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 91st birthday today

She has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February, 1952.

She is Head of the Commonwealth and Queen of 12 countries that have become independent since her accession: Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Queen Elizabeth took over from King George VI who died in 1952.

She was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and she was educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive.

The longest reigning monarch began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In 1947, she married Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, with whom she has four children: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

Queen Elizabeth II visited Ghana in 1961 four years after the West African country gained independence from British colonial rule.

The Queen, who shies away from the media, is expected to have a low key celebration at the Buckingham Palace.